Happily Ever After
by Laka
Summary: A princess trapped in an endless sleep... a prince on a mission... only this time, things don't go so smoothly.


Happily Ever After   
  


DISCLAIMER: This is a fairytale adaptation. I obviously don't own the fairytale.

RATING: PG-13

CONTENT: Blood. Gore. Some sap.

SYNOPSIS: The classic tale, _Sleeping Beauty_, re-done with dark undertones.

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I kinda got sick of the whole happy ending thing that comes with nearly ever fairytale. Witness my very first attempt to twist the classic tale of 'Sleeping Beauty' in something rather…dark.

FEEDBACK: Ditto.

*****

"Let me tell you a story, Love," the old woman murmured. 

_'You've been telling me stories for the last 200 years.'_

Her nurse looked sharply at the sleeping girl. 

_'Never mind. Tell me a story, Nana. But don't say 'I love you, goodnight.' when it's all done. I know who you are. You don't love me.'_

"Once upon a time…." 

_'You always start it that way. Start it different. I always hear that. And no more 'the ends.' I'm tired of those too.'_

"Alright then, Rose. But only for tonight. I'll tell you a real story." 

_'I want a 'happily ever after.''_

***** 

There had been legends about this place. 

A fire-breathing dragon guarded the gates of the rose-infested castle. Thorns…they were alive, slithering across the ground wrapping itself around his ankles, choking him. That vengeance-hungry witch, she was missing too… 

As the prince dismounted his horse, a cloud of loose dirt grew around him. 

The earth here was utterly, completely barren. The briars that had enveloped around the castle were a dead, wrinkly brown. Its roses were wilted; each time the breeze blew, it took a handful of petals and scattered them across the dry ground. 

He'd never seen anything like this in all the years he'd been battling evil monsters and wizards. No dying beast ever looked at him this way as his sword pierced flesh, hit home, and brought mortal death. Prince Charming had never killed anyone slowly. He'd never tortured anyone…broke them, killed their spirit, or slowly broke every one of their bones while they were still conscious. He was too good for that. He brought a fast, easy death to whatever he faced. Nothing he came up against had looked dead even before he'd unsheathed his sword. 

No beast he had ever battled needed a good watering before the fight. 

He tied his horse to a nearby skeleton of a tree and gave it a reassuring pat on the rump. 

Then, he walked into the web of tangled briars and vines. Branches broke and his feet made a heavy scratchy sound. The breeze whistled as he neared the castle doors. 

Then, there was no breeze at all. 

Silence. 

Behind him, the briar patch was slowly roused from sleep. 

Alive. 

The vines and thorns became a dark, healthy green. Thick. They writhed and slid across the ground stretching languidly. Its roses were once again blood red, the color of the blood that had stained white blossoms as the briars had taken their first kill. 

The briars began to close in on Prince Charming. 

It was hungry. 

Once it found a victim, it would stop at nothing to satisfy its craving. 

***** 

When Prince Charming opened the door, the stench of blood hit him at once. He gagged, stood there for a moment as he emptied his stomach contents on the stone floor. 

Blood… 

It decorated the walls with spatters and splashes. People were slumped over against the walls, on the floor, in chairs, on the long banquet table that stretched down the hall on his right. Sleeping. 

No. No one was sleeping. If there was blood… 

Old men…women…little girls… 

There was no innocence left within the castle walls. 

The prince squeezed his eyes shut as of to block out what was laid before him, but the scene was already etched into the inside of his eyelids. It would linger there until it had burned itself into his sub-conscious. 

He fell to his knees and grabbed his stomach; rocked himself back and forth. His head ached and he felt dizzy. He heard his sword clatter to the ground. 

_Shhh._

He shivered at the cool, velvety softness of the breeze's whisper. 

_Don't be afraid._

A strange feeling crept up his spine, tickled the base of his neck and traveled back down again. The prince got up and steadied himself against the wall, ignoring the sticky wetness of his palm when he drew away from the wall. He wove his way between the bodies on the dance floor to the large staircase. 

Dogs, cats, birds, babies, even---they were mixed in the sea that had washed up against the staircase. The stair was of ebony and oak. The prince traced intricate designs and gargoyles that were carved into the rails and walls, and stopped at a large abstract painting. In it, a thousand souls seemed to scream for release within the splatters of blue and black paint. Splashes of red ran up and down the canvas. It made his heard beat louder the longer he stood there, yet he stood there, captivated. 

The painting's spell seemed to break. Prince Charming skittered across the landing and took the set of stairs on his left. He climbed it, spiraling up until he came to the top. 

As he moved deeper into the palace, the corpses seemed to disappear. Instead, dry skeletons decorated the hallways and the bottoms of stairs. Yet, the flames that lit his way danced on, making pretty shadows on the floors and walls. 

The prince didn't bother to open any doors. Just opening the entrance to the castle itself was proof enough that this castle was more than it seemed. Anything could be hidden behind those doors, and he wasn't about to find out. 

Then, there was a squeak…the faintest little chatter from behind. 

He spun around wildly and waved his sword. Something darted across the floor. 

Dark. 

With a mighty swing, Prince Charming's sword came down on the demon. 

When he pulled it into the light, he made a disgusted snort and tossed it away. 

A rat. 

The prince stalked off deeper into the castle. 

***** 

_ 'It does get better than this, right?'_

The nurse glared down at Rose's peaceful sleeping face. "You interrupted me." 

_'He'll find her won't he?'_

"Of course," she replied with a slow smirk. "The prince always finds her, doesn't he?" 

_'No 'the end', remember. Make it colorful.'_

"I'll keep that in mind." 

***** 

A lone vine slithered across the ground achingly slow. 

It grabbed the horse's foot. 

The horse struggled for just a moment. 

It went still. 

The briars took it in its grasp and tore in. 

When the blood-bathed mass crawled away, there was no trace of the horse. 

Its skeleton hung loosely from the thorns and vines, brushing against loose soil. 

***** 

Prince Charming leaned back against the cold wall tiredly. His feet ached and his head hurt from all the turns he'd made. 

There was that, and the fact that he was desperately hungry. 

Ignoring the growling his stomach made, the prince got up and charged on. He trudged up stairs, chose halls to walk through, came to landings. 

His hand shot out. 

A spider. 

It was about four inches in length. 

The prince gulped. He couldn't take it any longer. 

_Hungry…so hungry…_

He ripped off one of the spider's legs and stuffed it into his mouth. He tore apart the rest and savored it as he wandered the halls. He clamped down hard on what had to be its thorax. 

An involuntary shiver traveled up his spine. 

Prince Charming had just eaten a spider. 

Just as the horror swept over him… 

He came to a dead end. 

Two paths. 

The prince made his choice and sealed his fate. 

He climbed up the first four steps and hesitated for just a split second. A feeling in his gut told him that this would be it; there would be no turning back. 

Prince Charming squelched out the nagging voice that tugged at the back of his mind. 

As he climbed up the staircase, the flaming torches behind him began to go out. 

Cold. 

Dark. 

From under one of the doors, the tip of a vine peeped out, temporarily flattening the rose blossom on it. 

It crawled out stealthily. 

More began to climb in from the window and from underneath doors. 

From several coils of briars, the bones of the rat he'd decapitated scraped the floor. 

The briars inched closer and closer to the prince as he reached the highest tower. 

He barely noticed. 

***** 

_'That's not true_,' Rose protested. 

"Why not?" the old woman asked with a wicked cackle. "You wanted a colorful story, Princess." 

_'I wanted a happy colorful story.'_

"This is a real story, Love. Reality is never a happy, colorful story." 

_'Mine will be. He'll find me. My prince will find me. He'll find my room and kiss me. I'll wake up and I'll leave this place forever.'_

Her nana simply grinned. The girl had so much innocence, it made her sick. She still saw the world through rose-colored glasses---another advantage. 

_'Keep going. Does he find her?'_

***** 

Prince Charming got to the top of the spiral staircase. 

Two rooms. 

Which one to pick? 

One door was blanketed in roses and vines. The other was untouched. 

He chose. 

***** 

_'Which did he pick?'_

Nana glared at her. 

_'What?'_ Rose asked sheepishly. Nana's features seemed to soften. _'Which door did he pick?'_

***** 

The prince carefully avoided the thorns on the roses as he opened the door. 

The room was simple---there was a window, a mirror, and a bed. 

An empty bed. 

"I've been waiting." 

He spun around at the sound of a woman's voice---a soft, soothing soprano. 

No one was there. 

The woman let out a light giggle. "In the next room, silly." 

***** 

_'Did she have red hair like me? Or was she prettier?'_

The old woman sighed. "Would you like me to just stop? You're doing a fine job of telling the story yourself." 

_'No. Just tell the story. I swear I won't interrupt.'_

***** 

Prince Charming ducked beneath the large canopy of roses and walked into the next room. The entire place smelled of roses, vanilla, lavender, and a hint of spice. It laid heavily in the air, like a thick, dense fog. 

He stopped when he saw her. 

Her back was turned---she was looking out a window, her hands resting on her cheeks. She had gold hair that cascaded down her shoulders just past her waist, contrasting with the crimson silk of her dress. 

The prince stepped closer. 

She turned and smiled. Her startling blue eyes looked at him inquisitively. "Don't you have anything to say?" 

"I, uh—I think, um…" 

Where was the curse? The fire-breathing dragon? And the evil fairy? 

Prince Charming smiled. This simply made his job easier. " I'm here to rescue you." 

***** 

A lone tear trickled down Rose's cheek. 

_'It's never me. They never find me. Even when they do something goes wrong.'_

The old woman paused to take a breath and smiled triumphantly when she looked down at the princess. 

_'I'll never wake up.'_

She reached out to wipe Rose's tear away. 

_'No. Don't. Don't touch me ever again.'_

***** 

"I'm here to rescue you." 

A smile touched the girl's lips again. "So you have," she breathed. 

"You do need rescuing, don't you?" the prince asked uncertainly. 

"What kind of fairytale doesn't have a damsel in distress waiting for her white knight to rescue her?" 

Prince Charming nodded his head; she had a point. He turned and began to lead her to the entrance of her room. 

"Let's go. My horse is waiting at the front." 

"I can't." 

He turned around to find her helplessly standing there. "Princess---" 

"Kiss me." 

Prince Charming gulped. "Kiss you?" 

"Go on. You said." She smiled, her eyes glittering with what seemed like amusement. 

He bent down and cupped her chin with his hand and stared deeply into her eyes. He touched his lips to hers. Her tiny hand seized his and pulled him close. She wrapped a small, delicate arm around his neck, pressing closer, deepening the kiss. 

Goosebumps formed on the Prince's arms and back. 

Cold. 

The princess's touch was cold. It seeped into his skin and filled him with a terror beyond words. 

"Shh. Don't be afraid." 

He froze as she uttered those words just as she nuzzled his neck. 

"Just close your eyes." 

His heart raced; thudded in his ears loudly as he struggled against her. 

"Shh." 

The princess's tongue flicked out to lap at the pulsing vein in his neck. Something sharp and cold sank itself into the soft flesh of his neck. 

He shrieked. 

A white-hot searing pain began to pull him down into the depths of unconsciousness as his life drained out of him, drop by drop. 

Drip. 

Drip. 

Drip. 

***** 

The princess dropped the prince's corpse on the floor with a loud, sickening thud. Blood smeared her mouth and cheeks. 

A smile touched her lips. 

She let out a hearty laugh. 

"Rose, Darling, you have a visitor!" 

Then, the briars slithered in and wrapped the remains of Prince Charming in its lethal embrace. 

***** 

"And they lived happily ever after." 

Rose screamed and shrieked, trying to block out the sounds of flesh tearing and ripping as the briars ripped Prince Charming apart. 

"Didn't you like my story, Love?" 

No one could hear her. 

No one would find her. 

No one would save her. 

Ever. 

Then the vampiress and the old woman became one. 

The evil fairy grinned. 

***** 

Rose's eyes opened. 

She swung her legs over the side of her bed and ran to her window. 

The briars had vanished. An ocean of bones blanketed the land surrounding the castle. The spell was broken---perhaps it had worn out or maybe she never needed a Prince Charming at all. For the first time in centuries, Rose felt relief. 

She walked up to the mirror. 

The brush in her hand clambered to the floor. 

She screamed and screamed, just the way she had so long ago…so many Octobers ago, when that last Prince Charming came to rescue her. 

Rose was old. 

Her once flaming red hair was now snow white. 

Her baby-soft skin was dry and papery---like leather. 

Her once taut stomach was soft and rounded. 

Old. 

Rose cried and pulled at her hair. She darted out of the room, down all the steps and landings, ignoring the floors that were slick with blood. She ran, stumbling as she reached the Great Hall. 

Rose sank to the floor, back against the doors she could barely open. 

She let out a crazed cackle. 

She remained there for a few peaceful moments, laughing and sobbing all at the same time. 

When Rose turned her head, she came face to face with the towering mass of briars that had haunted her slumber. 

Its large black eyes stared at her. 

Rose chuckled and licked at her bloody fingers. She giggled hysterically as the briars chased her, letting out high-pitched squeals. 

She laughed even as it wrapped a vine around her ankles and sent her sprawling. 

She laughed as its thorns cut into her flesh. 

She laughed as she was ripped to shreds and her last breath left her. 

Her marred face was forever twisted in a psychotic grimace. 

*****   
That happily ever after she wanted so much? 

This was it---her happily ever after. 

The End


End file.
